HAGAN AND SCHURING HAVE THE CHUTZPAH TO SHOW UP AT STARK COUNTY'S SCHOOLS?

Yesterday's election was a disaster in Stark County's Osnaburg and Nimishillen townships.

For Stark County's remaining 15 public school districts, the defeats of the East Canton and Louisvile school levies had to be alarming.

Especially alarming for school districts who are on the November ballot with levies.

Now "the chickens are coming home to roost" as a consequence of the Ohio General Assembly passing Governor Kasich's biennium budget (2012 - 2013) in June of 2011.

In that budget East Canton loses some $614,000 and Louisville some $1.7 million in State of Ohio funding.

And here is the list of legislators (which includes Republican Christina Hagan (the 50th) and Republican Kirk Schuring (the 51st, to be the 48th, but not Scott Oelslager) voting for the measure:

Louisville schools, which has not had a levy pass in 20 years, decided early yesterday morning (just hours after the election results were tallied) to place the levy back on the ballot for November's election.

Fat chance that it will pass then.  A presidential year, a down economy, and plenty of uninformed, anti-tax types showing up to vote?  Good luck Louisville!

East Canton schools really took an electoral mugging.  Wow!  86% (rounded off) to 14% (rounded off).

Lake schools officials are still reeling from the beatings they took in 2011 and back into 2009 on a "bond issue" mind you.  These are the easiest levies in the world to pass.  And this one should have been real easy because all it was was a local match to get millions of State of Ohio money to fix some falling apart Lake school buildings.

So what do East Canton, Louisville and Lake have in common?

They are all located in the 50th Ohio House District which is represented by Christina Hagan.

Remember, Hagan voted for the Governor's budget bill which visits sizable cuts in state funding of all three districts.

Lake's is the largest at about $2.4 million dollars.

So the question has to be:  When are the voters of Osnaburg, Nimishillen and Lake going to wake up?

And extending the question:

How long is the Kasich/Hagan/Schuring tax shifting gig going to play in Peoria err East Canton, Jackson, North Canton, Louisville, Uniontown, Hartville and Plain Township?

Hagan has prevailed upon her fellows in the Ohio Legislature to make her seat a virtual lock for any Republican candidate through gerrymandering.  The 50th is indexed at about 56% Republican in its newest configuration.  And, she is out raising big bucks to boot.

It appears to the SCPR that it is next to impossible for her Democratic opponent to win.

But the operative phrase is "next to impossible," not "impossible."

We all know that the Good Book says that "all things are possible with God."

And, indeed, it will take a miraculous turn of the head of 50th District voters to send a stunning message to Columbus that no matter what their political machinations might be, people can and if provoked enough will pin them back on their ears.

Sue Ryan tells the SCPR that core of her campaign is centered on going to Columbus and fighting to reverse the 50% in state budget Local Government Fund funding of Ohio's political subdivisions and to make funding of public school districts a top priority.

She says that Stark's villages, cities, townships and other political subdivisions that receive funds from Ohio's Local Government Fund are being devastated and that if they are to survive, it will take voters to send persons like herself to Columbus.  In the meantime, they can expect that the likes of her opponent will be pushing more and more of the tax burden of local government down the villages, cities and township voters in Ohio's 88 counties.

Ryan bills herself as the candidate who will work for working class, middle income families who have to struggle day-in, day-out to make ends meet.

In this day and age, sending one's kids to school is hardly "totally" taxpayer supported as it was when yours truly went to public school.   Property owning parents of school age children pay their property taxes, a large portion of which support the schools.   All parents in many districts have to pay multiple fees and a number of districts have "pay to play" athletics or "pay to participate" in band, chior, et cetera.

Taking a look at fund-raisers for the two candidates, it seems pretty obvious Ryan practices what she preaches.

Hagan, on the other hand, has hit the big time:  Brookside Country Club at $150 a pop and possibly all the way up to $5,000.

But working class, middle class folks can pay more taxes as more and more school districts are forced to put levies on the ballot.

Hmm?

Returning to the baseline question that voters of the 50th and the 48th ought to be asking themselves:

How long is the Kasich/Hagan/Schuring tax shifting gig going to play in Peoria err East Canton, Jackson, North Canton, Louisville, Uniontown, Hartville and Plain Township?